Wrestlemania XL Behind The Curtain Reaction & Review

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[@Weej_LR]

my theory is that HHH played nice with all parties, but booking Cody to win the rumble and then giving up his spot on smackdown for no real reason was him playing the long game knowing there would be backlash that would eventually get him the match he wanted… but hey… that’s just a theory. a conspiracy theory

[@scotland9922]

4d chess

[@mattgrant2639]

Hunter remembers what happened with Bryan when they brought in Bootista. Banking on them hating them bringing Rock in as much

[@Bizzybanks24]

That’s exactly what I got from it

[@TIGHTESTJEANSPART2]

100% HHH is the game for a reason.

[@KillaKamBoi]

Cerebral Assassin

[@TheTennesseeFistMachine]

The rock can politick Hollywood executives, but the golden shovel remains undefeated 😂

[@rawbserver]

I was on the fence when it came to watching this documentary but I called Nick and then I called Ari and I said "I'm gonna be the best documentary viewer the world has ever known." Nick replied "Love it.", Ari then replied "FUCK YEAH I LOVE IT" and then we were off to the races.

[@21pandas_]

😂😂 documentary viewer!

[@WhelmedButReady]

This comment is gold 🔥

[@WrestleJuice]

@@rawbserver Rawb 10.0

[@AussieDragoon]

I like that Rock was so salty that they didn't wind up going with him and Roman as the main event, and the HHH basically forced his hand by having Cody win the rumble.

[@91josh]

We need a documentary about the making of the documentary now

[@ZeDuoThough]

The Rock LOVES himself: the documentary

[@kinnikuboneman]

What else were you expecting

[@chriskimmel7736]

So are you saying you don't love yourself?

[@dreamshakejunya]

lol what Mount Rushmore top guy doesn’t?

[@shotgunnsean]

I think it may have come down to Dwayne's decision to pivot. But I don't think he did it for the fans out of the goodness of his heart. He probably did it because he and his P.R team was terrified of the huge mass public backlash towards him, how it could damage his overall image and how it would affect all of his films, businesses, etc long term.

[@pastorcodymitchell1456]

Mhmn

[@y3ee3e]

be honest. who wants to be hated by millions. it's not an ego thing...it's a normal human trait lol

[@Dyslexic_Mudkip]

to me it felt very much like an in character backstage interview about mania with highlight reels

[@TrueAussie26]

There was nothing really in that documentary we didn't already know. It was basically just the rock patting himself on the back for always being the one apparently 'making the calls' 😅

[@chriscollins550]

There's an interview with triple h just before wm, I think it was on the pat show. Anyway triple h on there told it how when down and it was the rock who contacted him saying, it won't work him and Roman but what if I turn heel, triple h said it was the best idea and the rock was behind it all going the way it did and working out how it did, why would triple h lie he's has no reason to.

[@TrueAussie26]

@@chriscollins550 never said he lied haha

[@marymay99]

When Triple H said Cody asked him what he was going to do at Wrestlemania and he told him he didn't know yet. Not gonna lie. That pissed me off.

[@DanzG]

Clearly he was also blindsided by rocks return..

[@marymay99]

@@DanzG Clearly. Especially since he was there the whole time working all year and going through the adversity that some thought he needed.

[@chriscollins550]

Triple h already in the picture that the rock was coming back. Triple did an interview with Stephanie two weeks after last year's wm, saying about they are putting together the ideas of bringing the rock back for wm 40, then the rock appeared in a interview few months later saying they are just working thing's out for him to return at wm 40,

[@BerserkRain]

I mean, if you're in that position with multiple higher-ups and the rock, there is a lot of uncertainty. Especially because then you had the whole stuff with Seth, Drew and Punk stuff changing courses.

[@marymay99]

@@chriscollins550 Basically working things out means he would not do the match until that money was right

[@ccjs7932]

It’s pretty impressive how Wrestlemania 30 and 40 both don’t turn out the way they do without CM Punk. Wrestlemania 30 CM Punk was supposed to be in that spot but he quit the company after Rumble and that helps Daniel Bryan get the shot. Wrestlemania 40 punk gets hurt at Rumble and that leads to Cody getting the main event.

[@seanblake7554]

I think with CM punk being in the picture Cody will still get the main event, but drew and priest wouldn't have been pushed like they are now

[@kellenoconnor4396]

I want to see the version of events where Punk isn’t injured and we get the storyline of “11 years later, and Rock is still screwing Punk out of main eventing Mania.” Honestly I wish there was a little more of a gap between Rock taking Cody’s spot and him taking it back for more of the roster to hype Cody back up. Imagine some big pep talk from Punk, ending in “the fact that Dwayne is in the main event of Wrestlemania and YOU’RE not makes me sick”

[@DR.64A9]

Punk didn't have anything to do with Cody getting the main event.

[@MajorMotions]

He said once TKO took over, the Wrestlemania picture started to look much clearer AKA my boys took over, and now I can book myself into the main event and nobody can do nothing about it.

[@AussieDragoon]

It's not that he couldn't get into the main event whenever he wanted, It's that clearly "the first chapter" was him beating Roman's streak, which even latter days Vince thought was a bad idea.

[@WWE2KUNIVERSEELITE]

The Rock altered that documentary because we knew what he was pulling the golden shovel. Ever wondered why they delayed this to come out? Rock had to review and approve it before releasing it to the public.

[@user-im8ru2bt7u]

I think the craziest thing I learned is how much pull the rock has… I’m not looking forward to him beating Cody then holding the belt hostage in Hollywood until mani 42

[@petercastillo2752]

Yo, when is ask Steve and Lacey coming back?

[@trinitheuceyone2492]

This felt like a propaganda piece a politician would put out before they announced they’re running for office and the rock painting himself as the savior of the situation he made the call to pivot was humorous editing by WWE trying to make him seem less selfish trying to make him seem like the good guy he portrays himself to be, but as many thousands of people were saying in the live chat and I can see from the comments people are saying here none of us bought that crap😂😂 he tried to Black Adam WWE he went above Triple H above the creative team he went to the tub got his way and then what we didn’t see in this documentary was Triple H actually behaved like the cerebral assassin and put Cody in a position for the fans to rescue the story which we did😂

[@SlimeAndSlashers]

Really enjoyed the doc overall, and your analysis of it was great. Happy 4th!

[@AussieDragoon]

Do you think, with how the doc ended bringing up the whole post-mania Cody/Rock story starting that part of the reason they delayed it until now is that they're about to pick up the story sooner rather than later? Kind of like what happened with Bo and the bray doc.

[@GorillaMon541]

This documentary was absolutely brilliant. I loved every second of it and I hope we get more stuff like this in the future

[@mr.awesome6011]

Diva Dwayne The Documentary

[@magi404]

Totally agree with your theory, Roman def pushed for Cody, IMO.

[@ryanpoole6743]

that moment of cody with i think it was vodka next to him in the RV after giving his spot at Mania to the Rock like he looked so sad there i was like man i cant imagine going through everything from the 1st WWE run the indies then AEW and now the 2nd WWE run only to have your biggest moment taken away from you and then he basically said i think that he hoped but didnt know if the fans would have is back in this and the fans totally were behind him so that feeling of everyone believing in him must of been amazing. Triple H from seeing this as we know now of course is a man of great patience and he will wait things out and see what happens and I really like that and hes smart enough to know when to push the button sooner if the timing is right like i would imagine working with vince all those years really gave him a perspective unlike any other in which he has come to an understanding of the business that know one else probably has ever had.

[@KPURPLEKiNG]

I'm sure nobody wanted Cody to win more than Roman. To be THAT guy, breaking THOSE records, for THAT long. Possibly seeing all the opinions on the Bloodline story jumping the shark, or his main event matches dropping in quality. I'm sure that pressure is immeasurable, even with the reduced schedule. Plus, the story prospects of dropping the title far outweighs anything they could've done If Roman had to stretch that reign another year or so. I'm sure everyone but Rock (and Brian Gewertz) understood that. I always had the feeling Roman's reign was never meant to go this long, but Roman being the "locked in" type of individual he is, just did whatever he was told until there was no way to end it without a worthwhile story behind it. Cody was the only shot they had. They kill Cody, have the Rock match, kill more of the rosters babyfaces over another year, and then what? I believe Roman couldn't wait for it to end, but didn't want it to go to waste.

[@michaelalognon3027]

Completely agree! The only guy he hadn't feuded with on Smackdown was Lashley (and Kross, but let's be real 😅).

[@TheNewToThisWorld]

Fun stream tonight Steve!

[@carlogz]

Besides this documentary, there was also an interview with Brian Gewirtz where he practically confirmed most of the story on his perspective, which was almost identical to the documentary anyway, I dont think there really is another “real scoop” of what really happened in Wrestlemania XL. Not unless Vince McMahon was actually in charge at least, i think the story has been told, it was a good story. Lets save it as a good memory.

[@scotland9922]

my conspiracy theory is that the delay was that they could shoot retroactively parts get your ducks in line company message

[@mattgrant2639]

I thought Roman rolled hs eyes when he looked away from The Rock in the scene u mentioned

[@CarlosDiazCL]

I would say that, technically, End of an Era was that kind of Long-term Program that ended up on top, just like this trilogy would do

[@kdogg625]

Happy 4th to you too Steve and Lacey

[@undertaker4700]

15:35 i saw that too Steve, and i am a good reader of expressions, Roman didnt look happy everytime hes around The Rock. he just doesn't seem natural around him and a has so much fake smiles during the whole thing. you can tell The Rock also isn't fully interactive with Roman too. they dont see eye to eye 100%.

[@pastorcodymitchell1456]

Not at all

[@BetchaBayBay]

Loved it, Steve!

[@cosmicking7979]

They 100% delayed it to minimize blowback on Rock and to not portray him in a certain way

[@UncomfortableShoes]

The Rock in this doc: “I came in and pushed their plans aside but then, I realized only after doing that, the better plan was just to do exactly what the plan was, you’re welcome. I’m a hero.”

[@goatbrook9065]

It was what i expecting was good but basically what i thought regardless

[@anthonyr8906]

I believe Roman did want to put Cody over because he had been there the last few years and he seemed to build and he sees everything and he's a smart guy so I believe he was all on board with Triple H also

[@khesipresents1885]

We want facts not what you believe

[@mrwrestlingjr9820]

Casual firecracker story at the end there 😂

[@kylethestud1237]

I do not believe for a second that The Rock pitched the idea to turn heel and go back to Roman vs Cody at mania.

[@ikgixofficial1985]

Rock is smart bro! He bought himself more time to me EVEN MORE involved later down the line. Both him and Hunter are waaay too intelligent and experienced not to see the end game of these things

[@WrestleJuice]

I sincerely doubt it happened the way he said it. I also doubt he didn’t have the power to make the match Roman vs Rock if he really wanted it.

[@pastorcodymitchell1456]

Absolutely not

[@AquaMaceEnt]

The video was postponed because the wyatt six have been using production equipment in the fun house 😂

[@lilmythic920]

Quite the morbid ending for a Video lmfao

[@lopassociate]

When rock pinned Cody night one, I kinda realized what Rock wants. He wants to pin all the top guys at WM. Hogan, Stone cold, Cena, Roman, and Cody. That’s a crazy stat.

[@21pandas_]

I'm just happy they dropped the whole "L" thing cause Rock didn't know how to throw his ones up 😂😂😂

[@Tizontheska]

So if "The Final Boss" is Rock 10.0 what are the previous 9 versions?

[@JOMRANN]

I wish they covered more than the main events

[@AussieDragoon]

Yeah, but I think the main event was the only thing really affected, outside of Drew challenging Seth instead of punk.

[@RingsideCinema]

CM Punk has now changed the direction of two Wrestlemania Main Events 10 years apart. In 2014, he walked out of WWE leaving Triple H without an opponent for Mania 30. Daniel Bryan was supposed to face Sheamus while Batista vs Orton would have went on as planned. Punk walked out, Triple H no longer had an opponent and they had no choice but to give in to the fans. Punk walking out led to Daniel Bryan getting his moment at Mania 30. Punk getting injured in the Royal Rumble led to the Tag match between Cody/Seth vs Rock/Roman and Cody Rhodes getting his moment at Mania 40.

[@drexeldragon1723]

I seriously have to ask why they were doing a documentary-style interview with Cody the night he gave up his spot. "Hey, Cody, how's it feel to get screwed over like that?" It almost seems like this was the plan all along and making a doc about it was the plan all along.

[@ikgixofficial1985]

This whole things just shows how much Triple H and Rock are both geniuses! Both knew very well that it would backfire BUT they had different objectives! Triple H bought himself more time by having Cody win the Rumble and on the other hand Rock knew that even in the worst of cases he’ll still be involved in the main event in some fashion and eventually buy himself even more time to be involved in further storylines with Cody and Roman down the line. He knew that if he forced it too much it would have damaged any further involvements for him. Both played an incredible game of chess!! Bravo! 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾🔥🔥🔥✅

[@WillS724]

I personally think it was delayed because the rock wanted more scenes of himself kissing his own ass and explaining how amazing he is

[@codyadams9923]

Rocky really tried to play down the backlash as though it was a small part of the wrestling fans😂 dude don't wanna hold that L

[@LevWantsHisOwnName]

It was so good…when Dwayne stopped talking about him. Like, Triple H didn’t actually do a HUGE chunk of work, and then Rock showed up? #hottake

[@DR.64A9]

Roman doing the spot with Cody at the end of the Rumble makes me think he wanted Cody to be in the main event.

[@patrickstar8177]

I'm honestly still convinced it was all a work from the beginning

[@FinalFantasyTimeline]

This was a massive Rock Circle Jerk. Like he was blowing himself the entire time.

[@theentertainmentbeyondshow1552]

As soon as Dewayne put on that old championship and started taking pictures and walking around with it🤦🏽 I was like there’s the REAL rock. Mr self obsessed everything’s GOTTA be about me type of loser, the long delayed documentary was nothing more than a puff joint to rehab Dewayne’s image after he kinda sorta finished an already drowning DCEU. He ran back to a company that he knew he could get the love he was falling to get from Hollywood. We don’t need the rock anymore, we need NEW stars and we need to move the hell on from the past, time for the rock to roll on down the road!

[@creamreviews1607]

And you and Larson gonna talk about this?

[@CuriousCorduroy]

I love that the Rock skipped software versions 2.0 - 9.0.

[@jordancourtney9142]

Backstage politics are good for wrestling and led us to the “best” Wrestlemania moment

[@pensfan2911]

I agree I think Roman wanted it to be Cody in the main event of night two I mean he had the biggest grin on his face as he was being pinned

[@jakekoehler1]

Keep all 8 fingers everyone!!! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

[@UncomfortableShoes]

I hope HHH pulled The Rock aside and said “Remember when Vince did dumb selfish shit? You’re doing that right now.” The rock: Fuck, you’re right.

[@jerelminter]

What I don't understand about this whole situation, is why Cody didn't beat Roman LAST YEAR, if the original plan was for The Rock to fight Roman ? This controversy could've been avoided, if Cody had ALREADY beaten Roman, which allowed Rock to fight him this year by winning the Royal Rumble. They didn't have to turn Rock heel, he would've still been a face.

[@reddragon0624]

Because Roman & Heyman said: “That doesn’t work for us, brother.”

[@kidneystonermusic]

I believe almost nothing the Rock says.

[@OshayrDeZwirek]

Roman Rigns has been his entire carrer background matterial, even his run in the bloodline, it was those around hi,m running the show. Roman Rigns charector has alaways been a side charector in his own storyline

[@ryanwaslawski6088]

People really think Cody wasn’t supposed to point at Roman even though production was cued to cut back and forth between him and Roman’s booth lol

[@ryanwaslawski6088]

At first I wasn’t too bothered about swapping cody for rock other than the way they did it was stupid. I was more invested in the bloodline stuff than Cody. But yea him moping off like a little bitch when I watched it a few times and the narrative of the bigger star pushing him out just started growing.

[@tallskinnyben89]

The Rock!!! That’s why.

[@emeraldninjalink6312]

I’d do Roman vs rock at mania 41, then Cody vs rock at summerslam. At least Cody vs rock 1

[@phildukejr]

I knee Rock had a big ego, but he has surpassed Hogan at this point. He mentions going out to eat and sitting at the bar, at a booth, or head of the table and thinks the fans wanted that? Literally no build at all towards Rock vs Roman during the Bloodline story but he believes people are dying to see it? No way bro! I believe Triple H had some conversations with Cody about body language during the Birmingham show, pointing to Roman after Royal Rumble. I think they stroked Rock’s ego and got him to play nicely with them. They would’ve lost millions of viewers if they kept Cody out for another year

[@dreamshakejunya]

Cody had to sell it like he did. It would have made no sense for his character to act in any other way. And he would have killed his character if he would have anyway. The way the story ended up was realistically the only way you could use the Rock in the storyline and make it work for everyone. Trips just seems a bit more politically astute than I think a lot of people give him credit for. You had HHH, The Rock, Paul Heyman, Cody, Roman and Brian G all working together over two months to figure the situation out. How many years of experience is that? With no Vince McMahon. The story essentially wrote itself. Even Punk has talked about how The Rock and Brian G are. He said they came in with scripts and a story… and Punk was basically like “I don’t work like that” and he said they worked with him and they still seem to have a positive working relationship to this day. Workers work and the real top guys know where to find the money. They even got two more Mania Main Events out of this.

[@vinparty4651]

Dude! The way roman reacted with the rock backstage in the documentary...idk it felt off at a particular moment and I think it may be on purpose and they are just doing some long term story telling and doing things very Suttle. I'm loving this new age wwe!!! And SOOOOO glad vince is gone haha

[@Basslover157]

We will hear what really happened in about 10 years when someone from the Wwe team makes their own podcast lol

[@Mr_Oggie]

I think they could have done The Rock vs Roman at WM40, all they really needed to do was have somebody else win The Royal Rumble. That Cody's story was he came back to the WWE for unfinished business, to win that title for his dad, he was robbed at WM39 and now he has his big chance at redemption and revenge - he won The Rumble and has another shot at Roman Reigns. That he was just giving it up for no reason made no sense and was very insulting to the fans. And Cody didn't need to win The Rumble and fans would have been OK with him not winning if it led to something: like if the final three were Drew, Cody and Gunther and Cody eliminated Gunther, goes on to have a good back and forth with Drew but then Gunther comes back out and yoinks Cody over the top rope they could have done a Gunther/Cody feud and it would look like Gunther cost Cody his chance at finishing his story rather than a stupid booking decision.

[@DrNovik]

I thought it was awesome

[@skubasleeves4125]

Dwayne got a script to RetCon his massive ego …

[@DARC-87]

I could go the rest of my life without seeing the lit up five room Gorilla position ever again. You see it every week on weekly programming and you see it in these behind the scenes pieces too. It's too much. It's cool to know the ins and outs of the product but mystery is very cool. Genuine mystery. There's no mystery or anything behind what they're doing. Kinda sucks for young fans like my son who still thinks it's real. It's like Santa Claus, I can't show him all his heroes hugging and dappin' it up backstage. It would ruin him. And confuse him. Where's the pieces for fans like that? Ya got so many behind the scenes and backstage stuff, what about like, protecting what you're doing?

[@PowerPackers90]

It honestly just to me felt like classic WWE revisionist history. Trying to PR spin what happened. I mean look at what we heard about the Rock behind the scenes stuff with the Fast and Furious movies, Black Adam, and that movie he did post Mania. That behavior syncs up with what the dirt sheets were reporting at the time.

[@TheTennesseeFistMachine]

More like "Rock's PR team got a hold of it and cut it up like they wanted it"

[@PowerPackers90]

@@TheTennesseeFistMachine there's also some Triple H PR spinning in this too. everything about the Rumble talk feels like to me it's Trips going "hey i'm the good guy".

[@chriscollins550]

You believe all that stuff. But you Don't believe triple h, go look for the interview with triple h just before wm were he talks about it all and how it all when down. Even saying it was the rock idea to change everything and him turn heel because of the fan's reaction, the rock took the lead and gave us one of the best wm in year's.

[@PowerPackers90]

@chriscollins550 The Rock literally just feels like he was gaslighting in the doc. like only showing streamers that were popping for the Rock during that SD segment. or claiming it was a small number of Cody fans upset and he's felt bad upsetting them.

[@DupreeHD]

This is a egotistical business by nature, so its fascinating to see how this all came together though all of this.

[@joesmoe8841]

Cody and Rock both come off as egomaniacs

[@WhelmedButReady]

I got all the respect in the world for The Rock as a wrestler as well as a business man. But this whole documentary to me was image rehab after he tried to pull that switch up crap on Cody and us the fans after 2yrs of build-up. Overall, it was a solid doc, the 2 things that rubbed me the wrong way were Rock's insinuation that the people upset with Cody being replaced were a "small amount" of the fans. Make no mistake, people were on pace to booing them outta the stadium like it was Mania 34. And the second thing was how he placed sole reason for the switch onto himself so he could be the hero of the story. GTFOH

[@WrestleJuice]

@@WhelmedButReady I feel like they retconned out the Cody Crybaby reference as a direct shot at the ones that attacked Ava online. Cuz that what it was. The doc changed it up to make that more of a Heel Rock thing. I am legit curious how the change was made, but I still think if Rock wanted it, the Rock woulda got it. If Ari Emanuel sided with HHH, that’s a bit surprising.

[@Henry_Croskery]

HHH's attention to detail is fantastic to see

[@terencecaron2922]

1hr of doc to say nothin. Its alright as a summary of the road to mania but very few moments we havent seen

[@mattgrant2639]

Austin brought the casual fan in in 98 and the ensemble cast kept them. But yes Austin was who brought them in. Hogan did same thing in 80s but didn't have the ensemble cast to keep them. This time around the Cast is there to keep then and they're banking on Cody bringing in the outside fans

[@MahkyVmedia1]

Roman returns and wins the next Royal Rumble but the Rock come back and tries to fuck it up again by challenging Cody to a match at WM and then we finally all together in one loud voice tell the Rock to Fckoff and retire

[@PettyCrow-n9c]

Crazy to think Nick Khan and TKO were thinking so shortsighted regarding Wrestlemania. However, to their credit, pivoting has given them at least the next 2 Mania main events (Rock vs Cody 41/Rock vs Roman 42)

[@cosmicking7979]

Rock failed to takeover Fast n Furious, DC and now WWE, his ego is insane

[@randomizerinc6602]

First

[@ash12345195]

Either way we ended up getting the best outcome possible and they listened to the fans (which almost never happened under Vince). Watching the Cody win it again gave me a tear in my eye just awesome stuff.

[@cosmicking7979]

Rock ego is insane

[@atticus8659]

Rock went from his worst version to his best version in the span of a week. That's nuts.

[@Psycho-Crusher693]

The Cody cry babies got what they wanted hes the champion now I just want Rock vs Roman now im done with that Corny Rhodes story

[@myron314]

Man the rocks ego was all over this doc 😂 he talking bout he changed it cause the people weren’t happy naw you couldn’t handle being booed as a babyface

[@cosmicking7979]

Triple H was 100% pushing for Cody, his interactions with Rock seemed so fake, he was just blowing smoke up Rock's ego